a fortified town of Prussia, in the province of Silesia, on a hill near the left bank of the Weistritz, 29 miles S.W. of Breslau. It is entered by six gates, and has broad regular streets, and two large squares. Most of the houses are well built. The most important buildings are the council-hall and one of the Roman Catholic churches. The latter has a tower 327 feet high, the loftiest in the kingdom; and a beautiful view is obtained from its summit. There are also several other churches, an Ursuline convent, gymnasium, hospital, &c. Here are large barracks, public offices, and a court of law. An active trade is carried on; and there are breweries, distilleries, paper-mills, silk-mills, dye-works, tanneries, and manufactories of woollen and linen fabrics, hosiery, and hats. Schweidnitz is only 11 miles from the Bohemian frontier; and it has, in consequence, been frequently exposed to sieges. Several times during the Thirty Years' War was this its fate; and after being regularly fortified by Frederick the Great in 1747; it was taken by the Austrians in 1757, but recovered by Prussia in 1759. It was subsequently taken by the French in 1807, and its outer defences were then destroyed. It is now a second-rate fortress. Pop. 14,488.